In supermarkets and retail stores floor fixtures such as freezer and refrigerator cases, floor shelving, and product displays are susceptible to damage due to collisions with shopping carts, floor scrubbers, pallet jacks, stock carts, and the like. For example, freezer and refrigerator cases typically include a glass or transparent plastic door for viewing the product without opening the door. The glass can be shattered, or the plastic scratched, upon impact with shopping carts, or the like. Since the body of many of these floor fixtures is constructed of lightweight aluminum or hardened plastic, it can be easily dented or cracked by such impacts.
A bollard is commonly used to protect floor fixtures from collisions with shopping carts and heavy equipment. Bollards are also commonly employed inside a store to block shopping cart access to certain areas and outside a store to protect outdoor structures from collisions, to indicate parking areas, to block vehicle and heavy equipment access to a particular area, and to direct a flow of traffic. Bollards can also be used to block vehicular access for security reasons. While some bollards are permanently fixed in place, others need to be removable to temporarily permit access to an area, or when a change in location is required.
Bollards can be difficult to mount to a floor or to the ground, often requiring large diameter holes or cement to be held in place. The large diameter hole for mounting a bollard can be difficult to make in the floor or in asphalt, concrete, etc., and if the bollard is removed, the very large diameter hole in the floor, in a sidewalk or in a parking lot is a hazard. Bollards held in place with cement are not easily installed and are not easily removed. Alternatively, a bollard can be mounted using two or more smaller diameter legs that are attached to the body of the bollards. The legs fit into two or more smaller holes in the floor or the ground. If the bollard is removed, the two or more small holes in the floor or the ground do not present as great a hazard. The two or more smaller holes are easier to form in the floor or ground than the single large diameter hole, however, unlike the single large diameter hole that does not require precise positioning, the two or more smaller mounting holes must be precisely spaced for the two or more legs to align with the two or more smaller mounting holes. The bollard with legs requires a significant degree of precision when one is forming the mounting holes into which the legs are positioned to install the bollard. If the mounting holes are not precisely spaced, the two or more legs may not fit well, and/or may not fit at all.
Accordingly, what is needed is a bollard for use where collisions with other equipment may occur, while also providing some degree of adjustment with regard to the installation of the bollard. The present invention is directed to this need.